“Defense travels well” is an adage that has been used in both basketball and football. For example, a basketball player might not be familiar with a particular basketball court, so jump shots might not be connecting like on a home court. However, good defense is less likely to slump.
 
“I heard a coach once say ‘defense travels well’” was said by a college basketball coach in 2009. “Good Defense Travels well” was a 2009 comment about a football team.  “We have a saying, ‘DTW: Defense Travels Well’” was said by Golden State Warriors head coach Keith Smart in November 2010.
 
“Defense never slumps” is a similar saying that has been used in baseball.
 
“Comedy doesn’t travel well” is a saying about film comedies. “Guinness doesn’t travel well” is a drink adage.
   
   
11 February 2009, Hutchinson (KS) News, “Wildcats keep focus on Raiders,” pg. C2, col. 6::
“I heard a coach once say ‘defense travels well.’ We have to play defense. I give credit to our guys for playing great defense in these last few games.”
(Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin.—ed.)
 
Cleveland.com
Terry Pluto’s postgame observations from Cavaliers-Hawks Game 1
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
on May 05, 2009 at 11:11 PM, updated May 06, 2009 at 10:18 AM
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COMMENTS
edsinnaples
May 6, 2009
Oh one last thing.
 
Defense travels well…it is always there , and can be racheted up.
 
Offense has off nights, and slumps…..But defense reacts well to energy…offense (shooting) does not
   
Boston.com
Indy Worst Defense in NFL past 3 weeks AT HOME
posted at 11/19/2009 11:13 PM EST
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Good Defense Travels well.  The Colts defense might not make it out of the Indy airport Saturday.
 
Twitter
Roy Pickering
‏@AuthorofPatches
@thenflchick Good defense travels well. Not as affected by other team’s home field advantage (aka crowd noise) as offense is.
11:43 AM - 7 Jan 2010
 
Riverfront Times (St. Louis, MO)
Five Reasons Rick Majerus and SLU Will Make the Big Dance
By Keegan Hamilton Mon., Feb. 22 2010 at 12:44 PM
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They also average six steals and five blocks per game. Stats like that win close games, especially in a mid-major conference where many teams rely on the three. And unlike a jump shot, team defense travels well: SLU has four conference wins on the road, including big victories of Rhode Island and UMass last night.
     
San Jose (CA) Mercury News—Talking Points with Tim Kawakami
Warriors 85, Utah 78: The Keith Smart principle–defense travels well
Posted on November 5, 2010 by Tim Kawakami
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Asked about the overall defense, Smart broke out his slogan: “DTW–defense travels well.”
 
I cannot imagine anybody in the entire organization ever saying a thing like that when Nelson was the coach. Ever. Even jokingly.
 
And it’s the right thing to say and believe, by the way.
—–KEITH SMART, post-game presser, partial transcript/
   
Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT)—Jazzland
Jazz learn lessons in rebounding, defense
By Jody Genessy, Saturday, November 6, 2010 at 1:20 pm MST
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“Our defense,” Golden State coach Keith Smart said, “was really engaged to take away paint scores from this basketball team.”
 
Smart pulled out an interesting acronym: “We have a saying, ‘DTW: Defense Travels Well.” Meaning, he wants his Warriors to come out hard on the defensive end, which can help keep them in games and create easy scoring opportunities (fast breaks) even if their shots aren’t falling.
   
Google Groups: alt.sports.basketball.nba.gs-warriors
Kawakami: Warriors at 30-19: Still on a very good pace, but they’re softening up on the road (defense? hello?)
Allen
2/9/13
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Yes, I think these two points are related–extremely related. As Jackson (Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson—ed.) has said, defense travels well. And bad defense gets you killed on the road… he didn’t say that last part, but it’s implied and it’s correct. Just look at the last two decades of Warriors basketball for proof.
 
Google Groups: alt.sports.basketball.nba.gs-warriors
Steward: Warriors proving to be road warriors
Allen
1/15/14
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“Defense travels well is a phrase a lot of coaches use, and it’s true,” he (Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson—ed.) said. “You’re going to have a lot of nights on the road when you’re not going to shoot the ball as well. It’s very difficult, so you have to play good defense and you have to rebound. That’s why a team like San Antonio is so good on the road.”
   
Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer
Portland Trail Blazers Play Tough Defense, Beat Phoenix Suns 108-87
Posted on February 6, 2015 | By Garrett Thornton
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If the Blazers want to be able to carry some momentum into the All-Star break, they need to be able to live up to the old adage of “good defense travels well.”